Secretary general Ace Magashule made the announcement at the party’s Luthuli House headquarters in Johannesburg on Thursday.

“He is a tried and tested administrator,” Magashule said.

Mahumapelo was forced to resign in May, after weeks of violent protests calling for him to step down. The province was also placed under administration earlier this year by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Mokgoro, who is the former director general for the province, was picked by a special national working committee meeting on Wednesday night, following weeks of division over who should fill the vacant position.

Mokgoro is expected to be sworn in on Friday in the provincial legislature, which is dominated by the ANC.

While alliance partner Sanco (the South African National Civic Organisation) has welcomed the decision, describing Mokgoro as a “seasoned administrator and a man of integrity”, it has already started piling the pressure on him, ahead of an expected Cabinet reshuffle. The civic organisation said it would expect Mokgoro to appoint a non-factional executive.

“We further want to see that intervention in the reflection of the executive, to demonstrate that he does not have a political mandate from elsewhere,” Sanco’s Paul Sebegoe said.

The ANC in the province is deeply divided, with Mahumapelo’s critics arguing that the current executive is dominated by his faction which, they say, is “responsible for governance collapse in the province”.

Mokgoro’s appointment is seen as a compromise, as he is not on the ANC’s provincial executive and comes from outside of government.

“Mokgoro is a well-known seasoned administrator who brings huge experience and the current government situation suits him very well, as it is about fixing the administration. But he needs to demonstrate his impartiality through the composition of exco, to demonstrate that he is independent,” Sebegoe said. — News24